man that is sad, I am one of the few people I know that still by records, I download stuff too, I download what I've already bought, or I download something to give it a listen, and if it is dope, I go out and get it, I used to get a lot of promos in the mail, white labels and all, now the record pool has been replaced by an email drop with the latest T-Pain bullshit song for me to play in a club, I've had people of this generation now, come to my house who have never seen or heard a record player, and it's just sad man, these young kids think they are so entitled, they don't wanna pay for shit, download everything from movies to music, it's as if they feel it is owed to them. The only thing these kids wanna pay for is clothes, drugs and video games.
When I was growing up the record store was the place to be, I have very fond memories of growing up in Cologne, frequenting Groove attack almost on a daily basis, the fun we had when a new shipment came in, was amazing, every monday and tuesday the best DJ's in town would poor in to dig up the newest 12"s and bring home the occasional LP.
One of my favorite thing to do, when traveling is to look for records, it tells me a lot about the people from the area and what they listen to, especially at flea markets or at thrift stores.
Few in this generation have shared these kind of experiences, and with generations to come even fewer will. It was a communal thing and in my opinion a profound cultural experience. It is sad to see places like Beat Street in Brooklyn or Ear Wax in Atlanta close. These places have been there for years, providing the music of the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. They have been staples of our musical heritage, and it is sad to see them wither away, the game is messed up big time, contrary to belief the turntable plays a central role in the culture, hip hop was born from two turntables.
At this point I wanna shout out all the real crate diggers that I have meet in record stores around the world: Bobbito, Spinna, Rich Medina, Evil Dee, DJ Eclipse, DJ Premier and Blaze at Cornerstone, Dave West, Lord Yatta, Cory Williams, DJ Jamad, Apple Jac, Presto, Rob Wonder, Steve Dinero, Curtis up at WRAS, Don Tonic, DJ Edzon (Fat Beats Amsterdam), DJ Turne, TLM, DJ Cream, Maz, Lucky, Mirko Machine, DJ Boogie, Ironive, DJ Deckstar, Marc Hype, Raiko, Kenzhero, Kut-L, Adlib, Tre, Dariusch, everyone at Carpet bombing, Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, D-Nice, Kurt Hustle, Puetz, all the heads at More Dusty Than Digital, Groove Attack, Dumpsterdive Records, Spytek, DJ Synthesis, Cea-3, Kid Fresh, Rasgunyado, Rafik, Diggin In The Crates Crew, and everyone I forgot... keep diggin'!
